ROLE IN THE MANGA

Winona also finds herself having a mentor relationship with the trainer Sapphire when the two battle in Fortree City. Unfortunately for Sapphire, not even her strongest Pokemon are a match for Winona. Winona asks Sapphire to train under her before Kyogre awakens so that Sapphire can help in the fight, along with the Gym Leaders of the Hoenn region. As Sapphire gets stronger, she finally beats Winona. Winona praises her hard work, and rewards her with the Feather Badge in return.
As the Legendary Pokemon, Kyogre and Groudon, awaken, droughts and downpours start to occur throughout the region. Winona splits the Gym Leaders into teams, and sits from the sidelines by directing the two teams to accomplish their goals. We really see here that Winona is the leader of the Gym Leaders, and the battle to fight the Legendary Pokemon. She takes on this role with her head up high, but she is definitely not bossy. She is also very willing to listen to suggestions, and often trusts her friends choices as long as they are reasonable. An example of this is when she allows Sapphire and Ruby to dive into a seafloor cave because she trusts Sapphires words.
With the other Gym Leaders now too injured to fight, Winona steps down from her supervising position and begins to fight on the front end with Wallace in Scootopolis City. There, Winona finds Sapphire broken down and crying because she is worried they won't be able to win. Winona takes on a motherly role and reminds Sapphire that they are all fighting for those they love. This encourages her to keep fighting on by her mentor's side. After the Legendary Pokemon, Team Magma, and Team Aqua are defeated, Winona stands by her comrades and celebrates the victory for the Hoenn Region.